Vacuum stoppering apparatus with pegboard shelf adjustment

ABSTRACT

Vacuum drying and stoppering apparatus having multiple shelves permits variable shelf spacing by means of a pegboard type arrangement. Using an appropriate pattern of the pegholes, one or more shelves may be immobilized by seating them in the lowermost shelf and then redistributing the remaining shelves according to a predetermined coded hole sequence.

United States Patent 1191 Powell et al. Dec. 4, 1973 [54] VACUUMSTOPPERING APPARATUS WITH 3,039,621 6/1962 Pilcher 108/107 PEGBOARDSHELF ADJUSTMENT 1 3,255,722 6/1966 Ferdinand et al.... 108/1443,537,233 11/1970 Costello et a1] 53/264 [7 Inventors: Harold Powell, gof Prussia; 3,668,8[9 6/1972 Henshaw 53/102 Cornelius C. Dunn,Havertown; John R. Burke, Philadelphia, all of P Primary ExaminerTravisS. McGehee As '1 t E --H M. C l [73] Assignee: Pennwalt Corporation,Philadelphia, jf s gggigs g u vet [22] Filed: June 8, I972 121 App]. N6;260,791 ABSTRACT Vacuum drying and stoppering apparatus having mul- [52]US. Cl. 53/264, 53/102 tiple Shelves permits variable Spacing means [51]Int. Cl B67b 1/04, B65b 31/02 f a pegboard type arrangement. Using anappropriate [58] Field of Search .1 53/101, 102, 180, pattern of thepegheles, one or more shelves may be 53/264 287; 108/106 144 immobilizedby seating them in the lowermost shelf and then redistributing theremaining shelves accord- [56] References and ing to a predeterminedcoded hole sequence.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,792,678 Baldwin, Jr. et al 53/101 2 Claims, 5Drawing Figures a0 75 11:1} 72 iii PATENTH] DEC 4 I973 SHEET 1 OF 4PATENTED 41975 3.775.942

SHEET 2 BF 4 F/GZ 66 & F/G.4

PAIENTEB DEC 4 I975 SHEET 3 OF 4 VACUUM STOPPERING APPARATUS WITHPEGBOARD SHELF ADJUSTMENT This invention relates to an apparatus forvacuum drying materials contained within bottles and then capping orstoppering the bottles while they are still under vacuum.

Conventionally, vacuum drying apparatus for materials, such asbiologicals, includes a series of vertically movable shelves which aresupported in vertically spaced disposition from each other within acabinet thereby allowing bottles or other containers having caps orstoppers loosely retained therein to be seated on the shelves. After thematerials in the bottles are dried, the shelves are drawn toward eachother while under vacuum so that the caps are pressed into the bottlemouths. Thereafter, the shelves are retracted to their initial positionfor insertion of fresh bottles containing material to be subjected tovacuum drying and sealing.

In prior U. S. Pat. No. 3,668,819 there is shown a vacuum drying andstoppering apparatus in which each of the shelves is capable of beinginfinitely adjusted to any position within the cabinet whereby variousbottle sizes may be accommodated at respective shelf levels. The presentinvention also concerns an adjustable shelf system for vacuum drying andstoppering apparatus, but allows the adjustment to be made with greaterfacility. While the instant design provides for the handling of various.bottle sizes, it contemplates that only one bottle size will besubjected to the treatment at any particular time. Hence, the mode ofshelf adjustment is such that the spacing between all of the shelves isto be the same during any one run, but variable to accommodate adifferent bottle size in another run.

A principal element of the present invention is the use of pegboardshelf supporting means having a pattern of holes which enables all ofthe shelves to be placed in service while at any time permitting one ormore shelves to be immobilized so that the active shelf space isadjustable in equal increments. That is, within the fixed distancebetween the top and bottom shelves of the drying cabinet, any number ofshelves may be reactivated by resting them on the lowermost shelf. Then,by incorporating stops or rests within appropriate preselected codedhole positions of the pegboard pattern, the active shelves may beredistributed equally in the remaining available space so that theincrements between adjacent shelves are the same. The present systemthus makes possible for a dryer of a given size and having a certainnumber of shelves to be conveniently adjusted for the greatest activeshelf area commensurate with a particular bottle size.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a multiple-shelfvacuum drying and stoppering apparatus in which the shelves may beadjusted for spacing in order to accommodate the largest number ofbottles of a particular size.

Another object of this invention is to provide a vacuum drying andstoppering apparatus wherein the shelf spacing may be convenientlyadjusted with minimum effort. I

Other objects of this invention are to provide an improved device of thecharacter described that is easily and economically produced, sturdy inconstruction and highly efficient in operation.

, With the above and related objects in view, this invention consists ofthe details of construction and combination of parts as will be morefully understood from the following detailed description when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view and partly broken away of a vacuum dryingand stoppering apparatus embodying this invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a front plan perspective view of a shelf support member havinga pegboard configuration embodying this invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagramatic view showing the manner of accomplishing thevariable shelf spacing.

Referring now in greater detail] to the drawings in which similarreference characters refer to similar parts, there is shown a vacuumdrying and stoppering apparatus comprising a cabinet, generallydesignated as A, a plurality of vertically movable shelves, generallydesignated as B, shelf supporting means C in the form of a pegboard forholding the shelves in variable spaced disposition with respect to eachother, and a drive D for drawing the lowermost shelf upwardly to effectcapping of the containers E placed therebetween.

The cabinet A is generally conventional and includes a substantiallyrectangular insulated housing 12 having a door 14 hinged thereto. Asuitable latch 16 is utilized to maintain the door 14 in hermeticallysealed disposition against the housing, and one or more windows 18permit observation of the interior of the cabinet A when the door isclosed. A conduit 20 couples the interior of the housing 12 with avacuum pump (not shown) so that the cabinet may be evacuated.

The shelves B are flat steel plates 22 of generally rectagularconfiguration and 1% inch thick for example. The plates 22 are boredthrough the thickness dimension for circulation of heat transfer fluid,such as steam or hot oil. Flexible hoses 24 in communication with thebores are further coupled to fittings 26 within the cabi net A at asuitable manifold. The opposed lateral edges of each shelf plate 22 havea pair of slide bearing guide blocks 28, each including an aperturedbushing through which lifting rods 30 slidably extend. Fingers 32 aresecured to the edges of the guide blocks 28 by screws 34, the distalends of the fingers being adapted to rest upon stop screws 36 which arein threaded engagement with selected tapped holes (X1 to X36) in thepegboard" shelf support means C. It is to be observed that therespective distal ends of the fingers 32 are progressively shorter inlength in order of descending shelf levels so that the fingers will notinterfere with the stop screws 36 thereabove during shelf elevation. Itis also to be observed that the tapped holes X1 to X36 in the pegboardare not in a single vertical line but rather are arranged in staggeredrows to accommodate for the respective finger dimensions. The lowermostshelf B1 has the plate 22 thereof supported on an angle iron carriage40, a nut 42 being secured upon the lower threaded portion 30 A of eachlifting rod 32.

The shelf supporting means C includes four pegboard plates 44 which arevertically disposed in spaced disposition from the side walls of thehousing A. The upper end of each pegboard 44 is retained in clampeddisposition within slits 45 of a horizontal bracket 46 by passing alocking screw 48 through a corresponding hole in the bracket 46 andthence into threaded engagement with a tapped hole 50 in the pegboardplate itself. The brackets 46 are themselves secured by means of screws52 to flats 54 formed on the lower portions of sealing cap bushings 56.The lower ends of the pegboard plates 44 are slidably retained behind aguide strip 58 affixed to the lowermost shelf Bl at the center portionthereof by way of screws 60 and spacer 62. The outboard ends of thelowerguide strip 58 are secured to the bearing blocks 28 of the lowermostshelf through cap screws 64.

The upper portions of the rods 30 pass through the cap seals 56 in theroof of the cabinet A, and are coupled to a lifting frame 66 by means ofa clevis joint 68. The lifting frame 66 is made up of four l-beamswelded into rectangular configuration and secured at the four comersupon pads 70. The pads 70 are mounted upon screws 72 which are inintermeshing engagement with transverse drive worms 74 oriented at rightangles thereto. Each of the drive junctions of the worms 74 and thescrews 72 is enclosed in a corresponding casing 76, the lower ends ofthe screws being enclosed within grease wells 78 to insure adequatelubrication of the right angle drives. The intermediate portions of theworms 74 are interconnected by jack shafts 80. Extensions 82 of the jackshafts are connected to bevel gear right angle drives 84 and 86 whichare interconnected by shaft 88. Right angle drive 86 is coupled to shaft90 of main drive motor D. Thus, rotation of drive motor D in onedirection will cause the lowermost shelf B1 to rise whereas rotation ofthe motor in the opposite direction lowers said shelf.

In order to adjust the spacing between the various shelves B, thelowermost shelf B1 is elevated on its lifting rods 30 by drive motor Duntil all of the plates 22 are telescoped together. At this stage, theuppermost shelf B11 will be in abutment with the bottom of the sealingcaps 56. Then, starting with the uppermost shelf, the stop screws 36 areinserted within the appropriate tapped holes Xl to X36 in each of thepegboards 44 in order to provide the various shelf levels desired. Asillustrated, there are eleven shelves B1 through B11 inclusive, and asuitable cabinet design would provide an available dimension ofapproximately 48% inches between the bottom of the top shelf B1 1 andthe top of the bottom shelf Bl when the latter is in fully loweredposition. Note that the upper shelf B11 is not active for holdingbottles but rather acts as a ceiling stop. Since the thickness of eachshelf is substantially 1% inch, the available space for ten activeshelves may be equally divided into ten spaces of 3% inches each, i.e.:

Following a predetermined schedule, the stop screws 36 will be insertedin the tapped holes Xl-X36 to accommodate the respective shelves toprovide for 3% inch spacing as follows:

Shelf Tapped Hole Code B" X36 B X35 B9 X30 B8 X26 B7 X22 B6 X17 B5 X13B4 X9 B3 X4 B2 X1 Bl bottom Thus, bottle sizes of 3 /2 inClf heightorless could be accommodated on the ten active shelves. Thereafter, byelevating the lowermost shelf such that the bottles with caps in themouths thereof are successively caused to abut the next shelfthereabove. The fully telescoped resistance when the top shelf B11 isencountered causes the respective caps to be stoppered within thebottles.

In order to provide for a larger size bottle, for example, a size justunder four inches in height, one of the shelves is inactivated bynesting shelf B2 on the bottom shelf B1, and the remaining shelvesdistributed on the stop screws 36 inserted in the tapped holes accordingto the following schedule:

Shelf Hole Code B11 X36 B10 X34 B9 x29 B8 X24 B7 x20 B6 X15 B5 X1 1 B4X7 B3 X2 B2 nested on B1 B1 bottom That is, nine active shelves wouldprovide nine equal spaces of 4% inches each between adjacent shelves.

Alternative spacings of 4% inch, 5% inch and 6 /4 inch would beaccomplished by respectively distribut For an equal space distributionof 7 A inches, the following schedule is adopted:

Shelf Hole Schedule B11 X36 B10 nest on B9 B9 X29 Ba nest on B7 B7 22 wB6 nest on B5 B5 X13 B4 nest on B3 83 X4 B2 nest on B1 B1 bottom As canbe seen. the hole spacing for the selected number of shelves can becomputed from the following formula:

where S, is the distance between shelves for n shelves T is the totaldistance between the ceiling and the lowermost shelf n is the totalnumber of active shelves for use in the dimension T z= shelf thickness mis the number of inactive shelves After establishing the distance T andthe total number of shelves to be included in that distance, [T(- n1)(t)]becomes a constant equal to the total free space, which in thecabinet herein described is 37.5 inches, i.e. 48.75 9 (1.25).

As has been hereinbefore set forth, the horizontal positions of theholes for the various levels have been offset from a true vertical linein order that the fingers 32 will be engaged by the appropriate stopscrews without interfering with each other. By following a hole schedulefor the pegboards, it is readily seen that the shelves B may be easilyspaced to accommodate a particular bottle size in a most expeditiousmanner.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, suchdescription is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting sincethe invention may be variously embodied without departing from thespirit thereof, and the scope of the invention is to be determined asclaimed.

What is claimed is:

1. Adjustable shelf stoppering apparatus for vacuum capping bottles ofvarious sizes within a closed housing comprising: vertically disposedplate members spaced from the sides of said housing and including aplurality of holes at predetermined vertical levels for supportingshelves in equally spaced disposition according to the formula;

S,, spacing between shelves T total distance between ceiling andlowermost shelf n total number of active shelves m number of inactiveshelves in nested disposition on the lower most shelf and t shelfthickness sets of pins received in selective holes to define a series ofvertical levels spaced from each other to accomodate predeterminedbottle sizes, a plurality of shelves including fingers at the edgesthereof for resting engagement upon respective pins at the variouslevels, the holes at the respective levels being offset horizontallyfrom the holes at the next successive level therebelow, and the fingerson the respective shelves being shorter in length in descending shelforder so that interference is avoided when said shelves are elevatedinto telescoping disposition, and means for elevating the lower mostshelf until the caps of bottles sitting on the respective shelvessuccessively abut up against the next shelf thereabove to squeeze thecaps into sealing engagement with the respective bottles, whereby theshelves may be equally spaced from each other pursuant to said formula.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wheren said holes are tapped and said pinsinclude complementary external threads.

1. Adjustable shelf stoppering apparatus for vacuum capping bottles ofvarious sizes within a closed housing comprising: vertically disposedplate members spaced from the sides of said housing and including aplurality of holes at predetermined vertical levels for supportingshelves in equally spaced disposition according to the formula; Sn(T-(n-1)(t))-(ni (t))/n where Sn spacing between shelves T totaldistance between ceiling and lowermost shelf n total number of activeshelves ni number of inactive shelves in nested disposition on the lowermost shelf and t shelf thickness sets of pins received in selectiveholes to define a series of vertical levels spaced from each other toaccomodate predetermined bottle sizes, a plurality of shelves includingfingers at the edges thereof for resting engagement upon respective pinsat the various levels, the holes at the respective levels being offsethorizontally from the holes at the next successive level therebelow, andthe fingers on the respective shelves being shorter in length indescending shelf order so that interference is avoided when said shelvesare elevated into telescoping disposition, and means for elevating thelower most shelf until the caps of bottles sitting on the respectiveshelves successively abut up against the next shelf thereabove tosqueeze the caps into sealing engagement with the respective bottles,whereby the shelves may be equally spaced from each other pursuant tosaid formula.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wheren said holes are tappedand said pins include complementary external threads.